Sponsorships Allow Art To Be Made (And We Need Your Help To Get One!)

Do you know why the melodramatic, over-the-top dramas were called soap operas? Because these series (which began as radio dramas, but which eventually made their way to television) were focusing on the housewife demographic, and these shows were sponsored by soap companies. The idea behind it was that the audience would be at home during the day folding laundry and doing chores, and when they heard a certain type of soap sponsored their favorite show they would be more likely to buy that brand because they associated their enjoyment of the program with the soap that helps make it possible.

This is all old hat to us in 2026, because sponsorship deals have become the order of the day in the era of YouTube and Spotify. However, the fact is that writers and creators need that kind of backing in order to keep making their art while also paying their bills... and not everyone can get sponsorship.

However, that's a goal I currently has as co-creator of the audio drama channel The A.L.I.C.E. Files, so I wanted to talk about how you could help us (and any other creators you like, really) start getting offers from sponsors!

 

After all, you can't write if you can't eat and pay your bills.

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

Lastly, don't forget to check out my Vocal archive for additional fiction, articles, explorations of weird history, and more! And, of course, check me out on Blue Sky, since that's what we're talking about today!

The Difference Between Affiliates, Sponsors, and Crowdsourcing

So, there's a lot of terms that get thrown around when discussing how creators get paid, and they can often be confusing if you're a reader or a listener, and not someone who's operating on the business side of the equation when it comes to creating shows, series, and so on. As such, I wanted to break down the differences so that readers understand what the terms mean going forward, and to be sure everyone is on the same page.

- Affiliate: If someone is an affiliate, they don't actually make any money up-front; rather they get a commission based on their sales. As an example, I'm an affiliate for Dubby energy drinks. So if someone clicks this link to go to their sales page, and then makes a purchase (using my code LITERARYMERCENARY for 10% off), then I receive a commission for that sale. For those who are curious, I do use this powdered supplement, and I can highly recommend them for folks who want something that's a lot cheaper than the canned stuff. And because I'm an affiliate, I can put that link in blogs, in videos, etc., and I get paid for sales... but if no one buys anything, then I don't make any money. These deals are easy to get, and basically anyone can sign up for them. I made a video about them a while back, for those who want a deeper dive: Affiliate Earnings, What They Are, And Why You Need Them.

- Crowdsourcing: Crowdsourcing, or crowdfunding, is when you get your audience (or just random people who get hooked by your pitch) to give you money to help you cover expenses. This covers platforms like Kickstarter (for projects that need one, big push to get made) or like Patreon (for people who pay a subscription fee every month to help keep your work afloat). While this option is very useful for novelists, and for people looking to complete an entire season of a show all at once, this is a direct contribution from the audience to the creator, helping to fund a creative endeavor. Incidentally, check out the Literary Mercenary Patreon page if you want to help this blog keep going!

 

- Paid Sponsorship: When folks talk about sponsorship, this is typically the kind of sponsorship they're referring to. In this arrangement a company will go to the artist, and cut them a check to essentially put a plug for their product in an episode of a show, to review them on stream, or something similar. This is pretty much the same way that Firestone, Blue Coal, and other companies paid radio shows like The Shadow, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and others to have commercials for their products in the middle of an episode. Sometimes there's just the straight cash payment to the creator, and sometimes there might also be bonus earnings for each member or their audience who goes through a link, creating a hybrid between a paid sponsorship and an affiliate deal.

There, now that we're all on the same page as to what I'm talking about, what certain words mean, and how creators earn money, I want to talk a bit about how creators land these opportunities. Because, surprise, it's actually up to all of you whether or not creators can get sponsored when all is said and done!

Yep, It's All About Audience Participation

Let me get back on my old soapbox. Regular readers already know this one, but if you're new around this neck of the Internet, I'm going to explain something very simple. No matter how complicated the algorithms, no matter how much slop is out there, or how simple or complicated a project is, at the end of the day it is the audience that determines whether or not an artist of any stripe makes money. If you participate, and support a creator, then they will get noticed by folks with deeper pockets. And if you don't... well, then they're going to be that tree that fell in the forest that nobody saw or heard.

And some trees are harder to take down than others...

I say that because it's true, and I'm going to use YouTube as an example here. It doesn't matter how many videos you make, or how hard you work... until your channel has 1,000 subscribers, and 4,000 watch hours (or roughly 11 hours and change a day for an entire YEAR), you don't make money from it. And you have to hit those numbers in a single 365-day period of time if you want YouTube to actually share ad revenue with you.

At its core, the site doesn't allow you to make money off your videos unless you A) have an audience of a certain size, and B) a certain amount of eyes on the content that you've made... and getting sponsors is just an extension of this mentality!

Now, nothing is set in stone regarding the following figures. However, when it comes to paid sponsorships, the larger the audience you have, and the more attention your work gets, the better a deal you're going to get. Generally speaking, you shouldn't expect to get approached for a paid sponsorship until your channel has at least 10,000 subscribers (though some product reviewers may be approached if they have an active and loyal following that's smaller). However, all sponsorships are not created equal, and the more subscribers and followers you have, the more generous these deals are going to be.

Why? Well, it's pretty simple. Sponsors are paying for direct access to your community, and the bigger that community is, the more the partnership is going to be worth. That part, at least, is pretty cut and dry.

But I said this is all up to you, and I meant it. So let's take a hypothetical situation.

Let's say, for whatever reason, The A.L.I.C.E. Files becomes wildly popular over the next weekend. We're going to be talking to folks at the Chicago Steampunk Exposition, and the theme is Alice in Wonderland this year, so it's not out of the realm of possibility. We soar past the numbers we need for both subscribers and views as people watch the series, share it with their friends, and subscribe in record numbers for us. Not just the 1,000 subs we need for the basic monetization, but we scoot over the 10,000 subscriber line by the time we get back home and unpack after the long weekend.

If we kept seeing growth like that, even if it was slower and steadier, it would only be a matter of time until we had someone approach us with a sponsorship deal. Maybe it would be Raid: Shadow Legends (groan all you want, they're just an easy example), because they have an entire Alice in Wonderland set of characters, and they want to make the most out of that synergy. Maybe we even get approached by Raycon, and we can tell people how good their headphones are for privately listening to our terrifying tales, or how the clear sound is perfect for editing episodes without constantly interrupting work to recharge them. Regardless, the point is that sponsors will look at the size and fervor of your audience, but also at what kind of pitch they could make to them, and if they're a good fit. After all, you don't want to pitch a product that is antithetical to the needs and wants of a target audience.

The most frustrating part about all of this, though, is that we as creators have no control over this aspect of the business. All we can do is tell the best story possible, and use the tools we have available to try to engage with our audience, and hope that we can cut through all the algorithms, signal throttling, and the waves of slop to reach people who are interested in what we're trying to do.

So, on that note, check out The A.L.I.C.E. Files playlist, or watch the trailer, and see if you'd like to join the crusade to get us the numbers we need to at least get monetized, even if we never make it big enough to catch the eye of a paid sponsor.

Support The Literary Mercenary

If you want to see me produce more work, consider some of the following options!

- My Facebook

- My Blue Sky

- My LinkTree

- My Weekly Newsletter

- The Azukail Games YouTube Channel (where I contribute video content)

- The A.L.I.C.E. Files (an audio drama channel I launched with Alice Liddell)

And if you happen to have some spare dosh lying around, and you want to be sure my supply doesn't run low, consider become a Patreon patron, or leaving a tip by Buying Me a Ko-Fi!

Also, if you're curious about how to write for tabletop RPGs, don't forget to check out my show Tabletop Mercenary, which you can find on both the Azukail Games channel above!

Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!

That's all for this week's Business of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sci-fi dystopian thriller Old Soldiers, the Hardboiled Cat series about a mystery solving Maine Coon in Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!

 

And to stay on top of all my latest news and releases, collected once a week, make sure you subscribe to The Literary Mercenary's mailing list.

Can YouTube and Podcast Adaptations Expand Your Writing's Audience? (Results: Hazy)

I've talked about this several times on this blog before, but one of the signs of someone who is new to the professional field is the idea that their only job is to write. Whether it's short stories, novels, novellas, etc., the idea is that they're the writer, so they put the words on the page, and once they seal it with the mystical incantation The End, their part is done.

Regular readers know that isn't the way the game is played, though. Authors who want to make a living doing this are constantly trying to find new ways to reach their target audience, new places to meet readers who haven't come across them before, and to figure out how to get eyes on their stories. The story will suck them in, but the reader needs to know your book exists in the first place if they're going to read it!

And one option that some of us have used is to make use of the audiences for YouTube stories, as well as for fiction podcasts. And while this indeed can work, there is an extra large asterisk at the end of that statement.

Because it will probably help you... but don't expect to become an overnight bestseller this way.

The "can" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here.

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

Lastly, don't forget to check out my Vocal archive for additional fiction, articles, explorations of weird history, and more! And, of course, check me out on Blue Sky, since that's what we're talking about today!

You Can Find An Audience (But There Isn't Always Overlap)

Before we begin, I want to add some clarity in case anyone skipped ahead. I'm not talking about being interviewed on a YouTube channel or a podcast. That is absolutely a step worth taking, and I highly recommend folks do it if they get an opportunity (also, shout out to the YouTube channel Joy on Paper Live! for folks who want to subscribe to a channel where authors big and small talk about their work with PatZi).

As the title suggests, we're talking about adaptations of your work, and whether that will lead to increased numbers of readers and sales on your end of things. And while I wish the answer was a simple yes, sadly, it isn't.

Consideration #1: Size of The Platform, Audience, and View Count

I listed this one first because it really is the biggest consideration. After all, if your work is being adapted by a place like Chilling Tales For Dark Nights or the Pseudopod podcast (wanted to give a shout out to both of them for the work they do) those command hundreds of thousands of listeners, reaching upwards of half a million people. And yes, in theory, that could put your story (and perhaps even more importantly your name) in front of a lot of potential readers!

However, I want to pump the brakes, because platform size alone doesn't guarantee more readers... even if a lot of people listened to your story, and even seem to like it.

For a personal example of what I'm talking about, consider this adaptation of my short story The Final Lamentation, which appeared over on the YouTube channel A Vox in The Void (which I also recommend folks subscribe to, as he does great work).

Some numbers. The channel has roughly 115k subscribers and change, making it a relatively sizable YouTube presence for the dark sci fi niche. The video adaptation has nearly 250,000 views at time of writing, over 8K upvotes, and almost 600 comments from viewers. So, by all metrics, those are some pretty sizable numbers to contend with, and it sounds great, right?

None of those numbers slid back my way, though. The short story in question didn't get a single view (not even from people who wanted to check the original text to see how something was spelled, or to follow along as they listened). During the time this came out I saw no increased traffic on any of my other work, no increases in book sales (even books like my novel Old Soldiers which fits right into the same niche), and no one came poking around my social media pages even though my name is clearly listed in the introduction and in the credits as the author.

With all of that said, though, I didn't get nothing out of this exchange. The popularity of this story did lead to increased name recognition for me, and there were several other creators who reached out to me because of this story. So keep in mind that even in situations where an adaptation doesn't lead to people reading more of your work or buying your books, it can still open doors and present opportunities.

Still, it should be stated that even when the numbers are good for an adaptation's audience, that probably won't sell you a lot of books.

Consideration #2: This is The Audience's Preferred Format

Generally speaking the purpose of an audio adaptation is to hook listeners in with a tale, and then try to lead them to the rest of your archive. However, if you're finding folks who like listening to audio stories on YouTube, or who take in their fiction on podcasts, those might not be people who are interested in buying physical (or even digital) books. Because while some people might enjoy mixing up their mediums, you are also likely to find folks who are audio-only readers.

Perhaps that's because they're a trucker or delivery driver who enjoys hearing stories on their routes, or they listen to their stories while they're in the gym or doing chores and their hands are full. Perhaps a member of your audience has a reading disability, or they have a sight impairment. They might just like audio stories more than holding a book and running their eyes over the page.

And in those cases, no matter how much they liked the adaptation, they aren't going to go and buy a physical book... which is why it's a good idea to make sure you have a back up plan.

As an example, consider the recent episode of The A.L.I.C.E. Files, which features my short story Dead Man's Bluff out of my collection The Rejects. On the one hand, yes, the audio adaptation is here in the hopes that folks will hear it, enjoy it, and that they'll buy a copy of the anthology. However, there isn't an audio book of those short stories that's currently available, nor do any of my existing novels have audio books attached to them. So it's entirely possible that folks who see the episode will just enjoy that one-off, and wander away.

Of course, if you're willing to dramatize your own work (as I did in this video), it has the potential to open up a secondary income stream for you beyond just acting as a hook to find readers for your physical books. Because if you can get viewers to like, subscribe, and keep tuning in then even if they don't buy your books (whatever format they're in), you can still get paid for their eyes and ears when they watch and listen. However, if you're planning on letting other folks adapt your work, consider making sure you have some audio books on-hand to be sure that folks who want to keep listening find something to listen to when they search your name.

Also, while we're here, consider listening and subscribing to The A.L.I.C.E. Files over on YouTube. The channel is fairly new, and every click helps!

It Might Help, But "Might" Is Doing Some Heavy Lifting

Nothing is certain when it comes to being a creative professional. However, you also miss 100% of the shots you don't take. At the end of the day, my recommendation to folks who are considering audio adaptations of their work is that if it isn't going to be a huge cost to you, then you should consider it. Before you invest any time, energy, or money into an adaptation, though, do so with the idea that it is not going to put money back in your pockets.

That way any sales, readers, or earnings are going to be a pleasant surprise!

However, as with any other promotional strategy for your work, it's important to remember that adaptations (and audio in general) follows the same rule as writing; it's a marathon, not a sprint. Just like how writing one novel isn't likely to catapult you to bestseller status, so making one audio book, or one adaptation, probably isn't going to make you a global phenomenon. But if you can keep putting out quality stories time after time, then people are going to start to notice you.

You need to be in it for the long haul. Keep that in mind before you get started.

Support The Literary Mercenary

If you want to see me produce more work, consider some of the following options!

- My Facebook

- My Blue Sky

- My LinkTree

- My Weekly Newsletter

- The Azukail Games YouTube Channel (where I contribute video content)

- The A.L.I.C.E. Files (where many dramatized versions of my stories can be heard for free)

And if you happen to have some spare dosh lying around, and you want to be sure my supply doesn't run low, consider become a Patreon patron, or leaving a tip by Buying Me a Ko-Fi!

Also, if you're curious about how to write for tabletop RPGs, don't forget to check out my show Tabletop Mercenary, which you can find on both the Azukail Games channel above!

Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!

That's all for this week's Business of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sci-fi dystopian thriller Old Soldiers, the Hardboiled Cat series about a mystery solving Maine Coon in Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!

 

And to stay on top of all my latest news and releases, collected once a week, make sure you subscribe to The Literary Mercenary's mailing list.

The Hard-Boiled Cat Returns, Just in Time For The Holidays!

It's been a year and a half since three of my novels went out of print due to the death of my previous publisher Eric Flint's Ring of Fire Press. And while it's been a tough time finding a new ship to get onto in these troubled waters, I finally managed to get onboard with Untreed Reads (or Novus Mundi, depending). However, as with a lot of authors who found themselves and their work adrift with the Ring of Fire sinking, my titles were getting a lot of pushback from Amazon. This was namely because Amazon wouldn't recognize that the books had been republished by someone new, and so they were resisting our attempts to get the titles back into circulation.

My dystopian sci fi thriller Old Soldiers made it back into rotation this summer. However, for those who enjoyed my series about a hard-nosed Maine Coon and the trouble he had to deal with (sometimes figuratively, and sometimes literally), my Hard-Boiled Cat series was having a lot of trouble getting back into print. But just in time for the holidays, both Marked Territory and Painted Cats are available again!

As a warning, these books are not for kids despite the lead being a cat.

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

Lastly, don't forget to check out my Vocal archive for additional fiction, articles, explorations of weird history, and more!

Is It Time For a New Chapter in Leo's Saga?

For those who didn't grab these books before they went out of print, let me catch you up to speed. These are a series of hard-boiled, noir-style crime novels set in modern day New York City... the difference is that it focuses on all the street beasts who call this town their home. From the raccoon mafia, to the squabbling gangs of seagulls, to roughhouse packs of stray dogs, and all the mice, rats, and others just trying to make their way in the world, we see a bit of everyone. And our protagonist is Leo, a hulking Maine Coon who lives in a crate out behind a deli. He tries to keep his nose free of other people's troubles, but sooner or later something always sucks him in.

The books have been called the unholy love child between Watership Down and The Maltese Falcon, for those who are looking for a frame of reference. And if you want a break down of the first book, Alice the Author reviewed it a little while back. So check out her take, like the video, and subscribe to her channel while you're at it!

I've had a couple of fans asking me over the past year and change when they were going to get a new story in Leo's saga. Hell, I've had editors from my publisher ask when they're going to get their hands on a new manuscript. And if I'm honest, I've got at least a couple more novels about Leo (and maybe a couple I'd love to write about Trouble as a spin-off series for those who have read Painted Cats), but when Ring of Fire went under, I just couldn't justify spending all that energy writing a new novel. I had bills to pay, and I'd just lost 3 novels (in addition to never receiving my final royalty check for sales I'd made in the period leading up to the company closing), so I really haven't had Leo on my mind much. I've been pumping out TTRPG supplements, writing a variety of scripts and short fiction for folks, and putting together a lot of audio dramas for the Azukail Games YouTube channel, and I haven't so much as thought about a novel in going on 2 years now.

Now that they're back on the market, though, that may change. And I say may, not will, because as with everything else this is going to come down to you, the readers.

When it comes to which projects I take on these days, a lot of my focus on what's practical. Novels take a long time to write, so even if I started on a new book for Leo right now, it likely wouldn't be available until next Christmas. Between now and then I have a lot of bills to pay, and a writing schedule that is jammed absolutely full of deadlines. Now, I love Leo. I love the world I built for him, and I would love to go back to it... but I can't do that if I can't put any distance between myself the bills clawing at my back pockets.

What I'm Going To Do (And How You Can Help)

For those of you who think that sounds like giving up, rest assured, I'm not going to just sit back and wait for the market to flow my way. I have some plans for things going forward, but I'm going to need all of you to help me turn them into a reality.

First and foremost, I'm going to do my best to big up the signal, and tell folks about Leo's triumphant return! I've got two blogs and a lot of social media channels, and I'm going to do my best to put the word out on all of them. In addition to that I'd like to put together some sample audio dramas to give folks a little teaser for the books, and to get potential readers to check the titles out for themselves. Stuff on par with my latest fantasy audio drama below, which appeared on the Azukail Games YouTube channel.

So if that sounds like something you'd be down for, make sure you subscribe to my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary, as it will probably be appearing there, at the very least!

I'm also intending on reaching out to as many reviewers as I can. While Alice the Author had glowing things to say about Marked Territory, Rissy Reviews also put in her thoughts over on the video Hard-Boiled Detective Cats???, which you should also check out if you need another take on whether this is a book series for you. However, if you're someone who has read either of these novels (or you're planning on getting your copies soon) please remember to leave a rating and review on Amazon, Goodreads, and anywhere else you can... those things mean a lot, and it's really hard to get the algorithm on your side. One has 12 reviews, the other 18, and you need 50 before the wheels of that machine start turning in your favor.

At the end of the day, I don't need a million sales of these books. It would be nice, but I don't need it. Honestly, I just need them to start getting traction again, and to remind people that Leo and his stories are out there, and if they create a demand then I will do my very best to fulfill that demand as long as readers want more of him.

So if you want to see more of Leo's books, please take a moment to raise your voice, boost the signal, and stay tuned for more!

Support The Literary Mercenary

For folks who just want to do their part to help keep me making more content, please subscribe/follow me in these locations:

- My Facebook

- My LinkTree

- My Weekly Newsletter

- The Azukail Games YouTube Channel (where I contribute video content)

- My Rumble Channel (longer videos that won't show up on YouTube)

And if you happen to have some spare dosh lying around, and you want to be sure my supply doesn't run low, consider become a Patreon patron, or leaving a tip by Buying Me a Ko-Fi!

Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!

That's all for this week's Business of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sci-fi dystopian thriller Old Soldiers, my gangland noir thrillers starring Leo the Maine Coon Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!

 

And to stay on top of all my latest news and releases, collected once a week, make sure you subscribe to The Literary Mercenary's mailing list. 

If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well!

As a Creator, Learn To Trust The Process

Creators are, by and large, cursed with an awareness of our own flaws... when it comes to our work, at least. While other people might read a passage and tell us how great it is, or listen to a song we wrote and gush about how much they love it, all we can see are the flaws in it. And while it is good to be honest about your work, it's also important to remember that being too critical of what you've made can often be like slamming on the brakes, preventing you from ever finishing anything.

A mantra that I've adopted for this (and that I'm sure you've all heard at least a few times in your life) is, "Trust the process." And in case you're wondering, it really does work.

As the old saying goes, you can't edit a blank page.

Before we get into it this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! To be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

Lastly, make sure you check out my Vocal archive for several hundred other articles about geek ephemera, weird history, writing, and more!

Fixing It In Post

As some of my regular readers know, I've been working on audio dramas for the past year and change now. It's been a learning process as I try out different voices, different recording setups, acquire new equipment, learn new effects, and so on, and so forth. One of the biggest lessons I taught myself, though, was that when I messed up a line, or had to take a breath, or lost the character voice I was using in my reading was to just take a second, re-center myself, and do it again without scrapping the take and starting over again.

And every time I do this, I mentally tell myself, "Don't worry, I'll fix it in post."

For those who aren't familiar with this term's meaning, even if you've heard it before, "post" refers to "post-production," which means all the stuff you do to a recording after you've gotten the raw lines from your actors. It's when you cut out stumbles and stutters, remove the sounds of breath, white noise that crept into the background, etc. It's also where you add the voice effects, background music, sound effects, and all those other little elements that take a dramatic reading and turn it into an actual audio drama.

There's a lot that goes into this stage of the process, honestly... and it can be eye-opening how different the finished product will be from the raw recording you made. This is why when I'm listening to a take, even if it's not perfect, or there's little hiccoughs here and there, I no longer scrap it and start over immediately. Because even if you have humble ingredients to work with, the end result can still be great!

Also, if you want to help support bigger, more involved audio dramas from yours truly, please subscribe to the Azukail Games YouTube channel where my current pieces are, and check out "Windy City Shadows" A Chronicles of Darkness Podcast Proposal!

You Can't Edit a Blank Page

Where this all comes back around to writing again is that making these audio dramas reminded me of a lesson I learned very early on when it comes to telling stories; no matter how amazingly perfect it is in your mind, it is almost never that perfect on the page when you finally get it out. There's always going to be dialogue that feels stilted, or characters who need more development, or some scenes that just feel like filler, or plot hooks that need to be sharpened to really sink in to the reader.

Your first draft is never going to be perfect. Period, end of story. You're always going to have to fix some things in post... and you shouldn't be afraid of doing that.

Hmmm... yeah, I'm cutting this out. The café scene just isn't working.

As a whole, writers will acknowledge that editing is important. We have to do it, we say. But a lot of us don't really believe it. We think that surely our work is exemplary. Surely we'll just have a few typos, or a few grammar mistakes to fix, and that will be that. And while it's true that the more you do this, the better and better your early drafts become, you're always going to have to go through multiple stages to get the best possible result.

And sometimes when you're having trouble with a scene, or you can't get your dialogue just right, or the ending lines are giving you a fit, you just need to take a breath, re-center yourself, and say, "I'll fix it in post." Because writing a novel, just like making an audio drama, or a movie, or painting a miniature, isn't just one thing. It's a series of steps that all add up to a complete whole.

It is a process.

Support The Literary Mercenary

For folks who just want to do their part to help keep me making more content, please subscribe/follow me in these locations:

- My Facebook

- My LinkTree

- My Weekly Newsletter

- The Azukail Games YouTube Channel (where I contribute video content)

- My Rumble Channel (longer videos that won't show up on YouTube)

And if you happen to have some spare dosh lying around, and you want to be sure my supply doesn't run low, consider become a Patreon patron, or leaving a tip by Buying Me a Ko-Fi!

Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!

That's all for this week's Craft of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sci-fi dystopian thriller Old Soldiers, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!

 

And to stay on top of all my latest news and releases, collected once a week, make sure you subscribe to The Literary Mercenary's mailing list. 

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